Top 10 Movies of the Year: 5 through 1

Here we go with the top five movies of the year. As you may have noticed, some of the films in this list might have technically opened in 2013, but really didn't get their wider release until this year. The top five features one of these types as well. Additionally, there is one film that won't receive a wider release until next year, but it's been touring the festival circuit all year. The general rule was it had to have one foot in 2014. So without further ado, here are the five best movies of the year (according to one dude).


5.  KUMIKO THE TREASURE HUNTER

One of the films I somehow managed to get into at Sundance back in January, Kumiko the Treasure Hunter immediately became one of my favorites of the year. Following the story of Kumiko (played by the awesome Rinko Kikuchi) as a Japanese woman who is just a little off, isolates herself from people, and decides to pick up and move to Minnesota in search for the treasure that Steve Buscemi's character buried in the movie Fargo. The film makers call it a true story based on a fictional story, and that is actually kind of interesting. Evidently, there has been an urban legend of a Japanese woman actually doing this, but no one seems to have any actual factual evidence that it did. Still, this film is both funny and heartbreaking all at once, and it is largely made great by a killer performance by Kikuchi. It gets a wider release in 2015, so look out for it.

Director: David Zellner (Goliath)

Starring: Rinko Kikuchi


4.  SNOWPIERCER

One of the more polarizing films of the year, Joon-ho Bong's first Western film either clicks for you or it doesn't, it seems. By no means a perfect movie, Bong's dystopian future on a perpetually moving train depicts class disparity at its worst. It goes between feeling epic and beautiful to dark and claustrophobic brilliantly. It does include some of his staple strange humor. And of course, it's only aided by the inclusion of two of my favorite actors - Chris Evans and Kang-ho Song.  It's weird and entertaining and at times really wants you to translate a meaning for yourself. It's also one of those films that clearly doesn't care about some plot holes. It's about something more than the little things, and either you buy into the premise from the start or you don't. It isn't trying to cater to the more logical film viewers in the audience, which is something I genuinely appreciate. It's telling that Snowpiercer is not even close to the best of Joon-ho Bong's films, but it's still great and makes my top five list. But be warned: it's not for everyone. If you can't get beyond "this plot is stupid" from the get-go, you'll miss everything he's saying. Which is a bit unfortunate that a lot of Western movie goers don't like those sort of surrealist stories anymore.

Director: Joon-ho Bong (Mother, The Host, Memoirs of a Murder)

Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer



3. THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA

Famed Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata returns about a dozen years after his last film My Neighbors the Yamadas with a touching, gorgeous, and somewhat depressing tale. Based on the Japanese folk tale of a young girl born of bamboo and grows quickly into a beautiful princess, we see her quickly fall from fun-loving girl to subdued and controlled young lady. Her father forces her to behave a certain way against her will, to act more "lady-like," which sucks the life out of Kaguya. It's a beautiful and sad story filled with unique and powerful art. While not as hard to watch as Takahata's classic The Grave of the Fireflies, it's still a sad film with an ambiguous ending.

Director: Isao Takahata (The Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, My Neighbors the Yamadas)

Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, James Caan, Lucy Lui, Beau Bridges


2. THE SKELETON TWINS

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are two of the best SNL cast members in a long time, so it's easy to go into The Skeleton Twins expecting an outrageous comedy. While there are plenty of laughs and genuinely heartwarming moments, it's anything but. Hader and Wiig play estranged siblings reconnecting in the aftermath of one of their attempted suicides. As they struggle to establish a bond that was once very strong, we see them both unintentionally sabotaging themselves and their lives. The film meanders through touching moments of sibling bonding and the dark world of depression of people unhappy with their lives. Few films felt as honest to me as The Skeleton Twins, both in the way it handles its drama and in the way the siblings grow together and form a very natural relationship. Undoubtedly, it is Hader and Wiig who make this film, really being able to show off their acting range. Plus, there is one epic lip sync scene.

Director: Craig Johnson (True Adolescence)

Starring: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell



1. BIRDMAN

I've gone into detail about why I love this movie elsewhere on the blog (it's not too far below), but everything about the film clicked for me. I loved the meta aspect of the film, with Michael Keaton basically playing an exaggerated form of Michael Keaton, and that the film is all shot to look like one continuous shot, resembling a play. Additionally, it's strange and dark humor was spot on, it's omnipresent drum added to the chaos, and the surreal moments of insanity keeps the film feeling fresh and gives it a strong forward momentum. Plus, you have to love the commentary about the state of the film industry and the stage. It's been a long time since a film has been nominated for all sorts of awards that I truly felt I understood the hype. Birdman is certainly deserving of it.

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful)

Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts




So that's it. The top ten films this year (according to some dude on the internet). Just to sum up, the list looks like this:

10. Godzilla

9. Ida

8. The LEGO Movie

7. Force Majeure

6. The One I Love

5. Kumiko the Treasure Hunter

4. Snowpiercer

3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

2. The Skeleton Twins

1. Birdman


So. What's your list?

Top 10 Movies of the Year: 10 through 6.

2014 has been a pretty great year for films. The indie scene did some really interesting things. The foreign films have really been killing it. Even the blockbusters haven't been totally terrible (not that there hasn't been complete garbage *cough NINJA TURTLES*). It's about time to narrow down the list of Top 10 films this year. Worth noting, not all of these films saw a wide release in the US yet, but they've at least hit up some of the festival circuits.



10.  GODZILLA

After a disastrous and insulting take back in 1998, it was pretty clear from the getgo that Garth Edwards' Western take on Godzilla was going to be noticeably better. And hands down it was. But it was also a strange movie that was weirdly polarizing. Some fans loved its early Spielberg-like restraint, and others bemoaning the lack of monster action. (Although to be fair, there is about 40 minutes worth of monster action in the film.)  While lacking the substance and depth of the original Ishiro Honda film, Edwards attempts to mix pure entertainment value that Hollywood (and nerd fandom) demands with some semblance of depth and metaphor of the source material. It might be a little muddled and inconsistently paced, but the more you watch or think about it, the more you really start to notice how well crafted the film actually is. As a die hard Godzilla fan, I can't help but appreciate his effort. Some fans might have hoped for non-stop action like Pacific Rim, but I appreciated its restraint. Not perfect or how I'd have done things by any means, but I like it just a little bit more every time I watch it. It was also kind of nice to see Edwards mix elements of both the Showa and Heisei era Godzilla films, with the tone being more serious, but Godzilla playing the role of hero.

Director: Gareth Edwards (Monsters)

Starring: Bryan Cranston, David Strathairn, Aaron Taylor-Johnson



9.  IDA

Ida is a quiet and dark film following a young nun in Soviet run Poland who has no real family left except an aunt. Her superior tells her that she should visit her aunt before she takes her vows. There, she discovers a lifestyle she never knew. Yet as different and interesting as it may seem, her aunt battles depression as a result from it. The film depicts differing lifestyles without really promoting one over the other. (If anything, it almost suggests that both the complexity of city life and the simplicity of sisterhood are both kind of depressing.) No film this year utilized silence and stillness as effectively as this one. Be warned though, it's not a popcorn flick. It's pretty intense and you probably won't say anything for about an hour after you watch it.

Director:  Pawel Pawlikowski  (My Summer of Love)

Starring: Agata Trzebuchowksa, Agata Kulesza



8. THE LEGO MOVIE

Another surprise of the year, The LEGO Movie could have easily turned into an overdone product placement. Yet instead we got a fun, genuinely heartwarming, and extremely positive message about the importance of individualism and creativity. Part of the charm is the cast, in which Chris Pratt really began to emerge as the world's most charming man of all time, but also featuring a huge cast of awesome actors like Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, fellow Parks And Rec co-star Nick Offerman, and Will Ferrell. It's not just the story of an average man finding his place in a world of individualism; it's the story of a father and son coming together. Kudos to LEGO for giving us one of the best family-friendly films in the past decade. And of course, this is nothing to speak of the awesome soundtrack and incredibly unique visual style. There's also something to be said about a movie in which the protagonist saves the day without truly changing himself, instead saving the world by merely being truly himself and being comfortable with it.

Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller (22 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman




7. FORCE MAJEURE

I was pretty much sold on the premise of the film alone. A family is at a ski resort on vacation, where controlled avalanches are common for safety reasons. One day at lunch, an avalanche heads toward them. Initially they don't seem worried because they know about controlled ones. But it starts to pick up steam and heads toward them. Just before it appears to hit them, the mother tries to protect her children while the father grabs his iPhone and runs away. In the end, it turns out it was controlled. No one was hurt. The rest of the film deals with their relationship struggling with the fact that when danger appeared imminent, the father just left. They wind up dragging their friends into it, and the stress itself grows like an avalanche. It would probably bore many people, but it does an incredible job with subtle humor and quiet drama.

Director: Ruben Ostlund  (Play)

Starring: Johannes Kuhkne, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Kristofer Hivju



6. THE ONE I LOVE

One of the nice things about The One I Love is how it marketed itself. Not quite the deceptive campaign Woody Allen pulled for Midnight in Paris, but you watch the trailer and the only thing it really gives away is the tone of the movie. Everything else within it is so weird and unexpected, it's really refreshing. You knew something strange was going to happen, but not that! It's a funny and engaging look on a dying relationship with top notch acting from Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass, who kills it with his subtle gestures.

Director:  Charlie McDowell  (debut feature film)

Starring:  Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, Ted Danson




That's the bottom half of the top ten films I've seen in 2014. Some of them may be available online either on Netflix or Amazon On Demand, but some of them might still be only accessible at your nearby theaters. Either way, these are films you should definitely consider checking out.

And just to show how great a year it's been, here are five films that very nearly made the list, but just missed out.

EDGE OF TOMORROW

Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers, this was one of the surprises of the year.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

One of Marvel's stronger efforts, it's one of the most fun and entertaining blockbusters in a while. (Even if I have no idea how Peter Quill is able to make cultural references to things he was way too young to know before he got abducted as a child.)

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

A very well crafted film around the incredibly difficult dilemma of what to do if you find out the child you've been raising for years was actually switched at birth, and that your biological child is being raised by other parents.

FRANK

Making fun of indie hipster noise prog-rock bands. What can I say? I love making fun of them. Plus, Michael Fassbender is awesome.

WE ARE THE BEST

A Swedish-Danish film about a trio of young girls who want to start a punk rock band. It's like a less depressing, more all ages friendly SLC Punk (but maybe even a little bit better).

Birdman (2014)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel, 21 Grams, Biutiful) has served up an incredibly intelligent and entertaining criticism of Hollywood culture in his newest film Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). At the same time, he challenges the idea of legacy and mocks "the stage" as well. With all the substance, he also mixes in some creative film making.

Birdman follows actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a former Hollywood actor known for portraying the popular and extremely successful Birdman film series over two decades earlier. Riggan is attempting to re-emerge into the public spotlight by writing, directing, producing, and starring in his own play. Frustrated that no one takes him seriously as an actor because he once played a superhero, the entire play itself is both a means to return to relevance as well as vindicate him as an actor.

While putting on the show, he often has conflicts with co-star Mike (Edward Norton), who is essentially the polar opposite. Where Riggan was a movie actor with smashing box office hits, Mike was a serious stage actor who has long been receiving universal praise for his abilities. It becomes clear that Riggan maybe has a more relaxed vision of what acting is while Mike has a much more romanticized idea, one that causes him to disrupt scenes within the play when he deems something "too fake."

This juxtaposition of opinions is often used to promote commentary about Hollywood film culture: one in which box office records dictate the success of a film. At one point, Riggan has a conversation with his internal Birdman persona in which this gets brought up. What is success? Is something good just because it made millions of dollars? Who defines any of this stuff? Even more, why is Riggan unsatisfied with his career? He and his Birdman movies brought joy and entertainment to millions of fans? Is all of this, whether it is stage or film, just to stroke his ego?

In between mental breakdowns and the stress of trying to put on a play (in front of critics who resent him - a Hollywood blockbuster actor coming into "their field" - no less), he also tries to connect with his daughter Sam (Emma Stone), who is fresh out of rehab and resentful of pretty much everything. Over time, they have a weird connection stemming from a similar sense of frustration with everything around them.

It's hard not to notice how "meta" the film is. It's really hard not to see the parallel between Keaton and his character. Keaton - like Riggan - was famous for playing a superhero many years ago (it could even be argued that Keaton's "Batman" was truly the start of the modern superhero craze). And like Riggan, Keaton similarly disappeared from mainstream consciousness after his last superhero film. (A more specific parallel: Riggan's last time playing "Birdman" was in 1992, which was also the year Keaton last donned the Batman cowl.)

Even more, almost every one of the main actors has rotated between smaller, more independent pictures and the big Hollywood blockbuster. Co-stars Emma Stone and Ed Norton have similarly appeared in superhero movies in recent years (Stone in the Amazing Spider-man and Norton in The Incredible Hulk). Naomi Watts starred in the big budget (and big disappointment) King Kong remake (as well as appeared in Tank Girl, a comic book movie, though a much smaller one). Everyone's favorite bearded funny man Zach Galifianakis has also stared in the blockbuster comedy Hangover trilogy. Even Andrea Riseborough made a summer appearance alongside Tom Cruise in Oblivion. This casting is almost inherently commenting on the nature of Hollywood film, and how it inevitably sucks everyone in. Early in the film when Riggan is trying to find a replacement actor, he hears that Jeremy Renner can't do it because he's working on The Avengers, which prompts the response, "They put him in tights too!?"

The structure of the film is equally "meta." Taking a page from Alfred Hitchcock, Inarritu builds the film with primarily a handful of long, drawn out shots. There appear to be perhaps just a dozen or so cuts in the entire film. This gives the impression that everything is unfolding in one take (akin to Hitchcock's Rope, which is similarly done with every reel being one or two shots). Thus, the film whose plot is built around the staging of a play is itself filmed as if it were a play. In those moments when Riggan begins to slowly lose his mind, blockbuster-esque scenes occur around him. Eventually it devolves into a weirdness that sometimes can be tricky to fully follow.

Eventually, having had enough and wanting to prove his worth as an actor, he goes on stage with a loaded gun. On a personal note, I'm extremely sensitive to things dealing with suicide, so I found myself slumped in my chair, slightly hiding my face, whispering to myself, "I don't want to watch this" over and over again. It was one truly uncomfortable, anxiety-inducing sequence.

And as most truly great films do, it ends in a strange and ambiguous area. Without spoiling, suffice it to say that it might leave you scratching your head and discussing it with your friends for the next few days. Or, it's equally likely to make you go, "What the hell was that?" and cause you to dislike the film.

Weirdly funny at times, interestingly shot, super meta, and kind of weird, Birdman fast became one of my favorite movies of the past few years. It's probably the best movie of the year.

Zombieland (2009)

It seems like ever since Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead hit theaters and book stores around the same time, the zombie genre has experienced a revival of overly saturated proportions. Then, in 2004, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg came onto the American scene with their zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead. This might be the root of a strange divergence of the zombie genre. Since then, we've seen a spike on zombie comedies as well - everything from the fake documentary American Zombie to the current Life After Beth. We've even seen them try and make zombie romances (has anyone seen Warm Bodies?) 

While I haven't seen Life After Beth yet, it's safe to say that no movie even comes close to the fun, humorous, and entertaining nature of Shaun of the Dead than Ruben Fleischer's 2009 comedy Zombieland. Yet even that survives primarily on two factors: that it's got zombies and that you presumably think discount awkward Michael Cera is funny. 

This isn't to say Zombieland is a bad movie. It is filled with some pretty funny moments and some memorable scenes. And it's one of the more entertaining Woody Harrelson roles. Yet the gist of the movie is essentially, "What if we made an awkward teenage comedy, but with zombies!" Naturally, it lacks even a sliver of the kind of depth and thematic significance you can find in Wright's pictures, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick occasionally try to tie in something of substance or metaphor sporadically throughout the movie. The problem is that they lack the tact that other writers have, often simply coming right out and stating it. At one point, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) comes right out and says that if you don't have anyone around, you might as well be a zombie.

Groan. 

Emma Stone deserves a bit better than merely being the "hot chick" that the "awkward boy" is trying to bang. Seems like she had to suffer through a few of those roles to get the better ones later. 

Then there's the whole subplot of Tallahassee's backstory, where he tells his story about how much he loved his puppy before the zombies ate him. This coincides with a corny flashback sequence that does little to cover the reality that he was actually talking about his son, not a puppy. When they finally spill it out for you, they replay those scenes but with a little child instead of a puppy. Problem is that most of those scenes make no sense with a puppy in them to begin with, so by the time you get the big reveal, it's already been pretty obvious to begin with. 

Even worse are the moments when the jokes feel every bit as forced as the relationship development. The worst offender is perhaps the Bill Murray scene - one of the funniest, most exciting surprises in any movie I'd seen. And it all culminates to Murray lying there dying so that one character can randomly ask, "So, do you have any regrets?" With the punchline being, "Garfield, maybe." 

Not every joke is horribly jammed in there with clunky writing, of course. While Eisenberg's awkwardness is a bit tedious (remember, this came at a time when he and Cera were vying for "awkward teenage boy" supremacy), some of his reactions or lines are pretty great. The way he delivers the line, "You almost knocked over your beer with your knife" when he first meets Tallahassee is spot on and hilarious. Perhaps the best joke is one of the most subtle. When picking a celebrity house to stay in, Tallahassee picks Bill Murray's. He hopes that Murray will have a box of Twinkees somewhere (another subplot jammed in there for the sake of a couple of jokes). When they don't find any, Wichita shouts over everyone, "I told you we should have gone to Russell Crowe's! Nobody ever listens to me!" 

The other issue plaguing the writing is that it struggles to get out of this immaturity. Often times, it feels like a movie written by sexually frustrated 19 year old dudes. Rather than focusing on the idea of an awkward kid who had been isolated before the apocalypse and is now making a human connection, they spend much of the movie focused on trying to score with a hot chick. For as clever and capable as Wichita (Emma Stone) is, she only really serves as a quest for Columbus. They spend so much of the film making her seem more capable and in charge and him weak and frightened, they naturally end the film by making Wichita a damsel in distress in need of rescuing by Columbus, who proves his worth by overcoming his fear and shows his strength. And the only reason he was able to do so was that he fell in love with her. It's cheesy and poor motivation. I know the movie loses something if you remove the romantic element - since after all, nothing says "awkward" like the inability to score with girls - but it would have been profoundly more interesting if they were just four human beings carrying their own baggage and learning to trust and like each other. (This romance element is also made worse by the fact that Wichita is also one of those "I'm hot and I'm gonna take advantage of you awkward dudes" characters that is borderline insulting to both women and nice, awkward guys.)

Zombies look good when they show up. But I forgot that they run. God damn I hate running zombies. Not so much a huge issue in this movie though. 

At times, the movie can't decide what exactly it wants to be or how it wants to tell its story. It occasionally utilizes prolonged flashbacks with narration explaining everything. Then, there are occasional cuts to the "Zombie Kill of the Week," which highlights some unrelated character somewhere in the world killing a zombie in a totally ridiculous and possibly humorous way. It's unnecessary and confusing, and really just chops up the already broken up flow of the story. 

So ok, the comedy is hit or miss. The drama is forced and eye-roll worthy. But what about the action? What about the zombies? What about the special effects?

Two things become apparent halfway through the movie. The first is that it has a pretty small budget. It doesn't take long before you start to realize that there don't appear to be many zombies in Zombieland. Here's this world supposedly overrun by them, yet even when they stop in downtown Los Angeles, the most they can muster is seven zombies on screen at once. Tallahassee and Columbus stroll through the center of a small town looking for a car, chatting away like there's nothing around them. Strange thing is, there's nary a a zombie in sight. When they enter a super market, there's all of three zombies. At the Native American store? There's a whopping one. You never see zombies in the background and the characters don't seem at all concerned. They make as much noise as they'd like. In one scene, Tallahassee literally just shoots guns in the air for no reason for a minute, just because. Doesn't draw the attention of a single zombie.

The other thing though is that when there are zombies, they look pretty great. It seems as though they had to choose between quantity and quality. The zombies themselves look awesome and terrifying. And it also seems like they were ultimately saving up for the big final set piece at the amusement park (which is freaky and very entertaining, despite its Left 4 Dead 2 level rip off). Yet even then, the only time they try and overwhelm you with numbers of zombies, those numbers still seem pretty limited. 

Overall, it's not as good as I remembered it being. Perhaps that awkward teenage boy trying to score with the hot chick is just no longer my sense of humor. Perhaps I'm fatigued with zombies. Or perhaps I just never really noticed how forced the writing really was. Still, it's not filled with nothing. There are a number of funny jokes and memorable sequences. And the zombies looked good when they do show up. They effectively use jump scares at a few bits. 

Still, if you're going to watch a good comedy and a good zombie movie this Halloween, you can't top Shaun. 

Dear White People (2014)

PREFACE: I do mention a few specific plot elements that are SPOILERS. Not sure if people care about spoilers in a movie like this, but be warned they're there. Especially when we get past the racist party.

PREFACE 2: Worth noting, I guess, that there's pretty much no element of my identity that isn't part of the "majority." Straight, white dude who was working/middle class (depending on whose definition we're using - suffice it to say we weren't poor) and had a Catholic upbringing. Shoot, even the one thing that USED to be a minority identifier - being a comic book and video game nerd - is now mainstream pop culture.

Point being: probably worth it to take my opinion with a grain of salt. Not saying my opinions are somehow invalid as a white man watching the movie, but I don't have much insight in the "black community." I'd definitely be interested to see what black people thought of the movie and if they felt similarly or totally different. Or, if anyone thinks I'm totally off-base. This is just what I took out of it with what I generally thought going in. In general, I'm a big fan of diverse perspectives in media, so any time I get a main black or Latino or female character who isn't Tyler Perry in drag or a drug dealer or a mere love interest/goal for hero to accomplish, I'm always more interested.

ONWARD!

Race has a knack for being an issue that we all would benefit from having an open and honest conversation about while also actually listening to the other people who have had different experiences with it. In the case of the provocatively named Dear White People, director Justin Simien tries to give viewers some sense of what many black Americans feel like in today's world. That's what makes it something of an important film. It's a rare story told through a black lens about black experiences on their own terms. And it's surprisingly insightful, especially when hearing Simien talk about how many things were inspired by his own personal life experience.

In an age where Barack Obama has become President, black people find it almost more difficult to have their perspectives heard or understood. Taking place at a fictional ivy league school predominantly made up of rich white kids, one such student goes so far as to suggest that the hardest thing to be in today's work force is a white, middle class male (which could have felt like a forced line of douche baggery in the film if not for the fact that I've heard this argument by an annoying number of people in real life). He goes on to even suggest that the primary reason Obama is president is that he benefited from affirmative action.  Even the president goes so far as to say, "Racism is dead in this country." To his black colleague, no less.

Primarily focused on following Sam White, a young black woman who is militant in her racial identity and hosts a school radio program called "Dear White People," she regularly pushes people's buttons. "Dear white people," she says in one radio show. "Dating a black man to piss off your parents is itself a form of racism." At other times, she's merely mocking. "Dear white people with Instagram: you go on hikes. We get it." Sometimes she's funny. Sometimes she's trying to point out microaggressions that a lot of people just ignore as being "no big deal." She's the one who is openly controversial in her anarchist persona, willing to set fires to make a point.

Hers is not the only perspective in the feature, however. There's also Colandrea Conners, a young black woman who is trying to get onto a reality television show. Her thing seems to be wanting people to notice her, and she often seems to reject her "blackness" in order to fit in. She's also taken to calling herself Coco, because her real name Colandrea "doesn't pass the resume test." (Basically meaning she is concerned that if people were know she's black before they have a chance to even meet her, that will set up a different experience when they do.)

There's also Troy Fairbanks, the hot shot black student politician who seems to know how to play to a crowd. He is the son of  the Dean of Students. Liked by black and white students, he is essentially seems to "play it safe."  Finally, there's Lionel Higgins, a gay black journalist wannabe who is so much struggling to find his place that the film makers don't even really let him have a home. He's shopped around housing as he goes from a house of predominantly white kids bullying him to a house of predominantly black kids bullying him. Lionel is calm and nice, often acting as a wallflower. Yet no matter how much he tries to avoid it, he still gets caught in the racial divide between the pompous Kurt Fletcher and Sam White. Even his new friends at the school paper make him uncomfortable and don't seem to care about him, really.

What's really interesting about these characters is that the don't just shine a light on the black experiences in a predominantly white environment. They also reflect that racial identity even among black people. Each and every one of these four main characters is also struggling with some issue within their own black community. Sam, for example, is romantically involved with a white man, but she's too scared to share that fact with the public. He even calls her out on it at some point, calling her out on feeling the need to "pick a side" when really, it wasn't as clear cut as that. Sam, whose mother was black and father was white, even points it out herself when she finally admits that she remembered the looks people gave her father when they'd see him with this little black girl. She hated those people for trying to make her father feel embarrassed or ashamed, yet there she was, trying to appease those same people who would be giving her looks for dating a white man.

Coco is overly concerned that people only see her as a black woman, then tries to take advantage of people's interest in "black culture" to her advantage. Troy tries to be the "chill black guy" with his white friends, trying to show that he's not easily offended by their ignorance. But his race is perhaps not as big of a deal to him as it is to other people. He's also something of a pawn for his father. His father was offered the position of Dean of Students after graduating second in his class. The person they made president instead of him was a white student who barely passed. Since then, he's been training his son to be completely elite and forcing him to live a life in which no one can possibly deny him any promotion or job. (This, coming at the expense of his son's desire.)

Most interesting of the bunch though is Lionel. He's the ultimate outsider. He's black and doesn't fit in with the white kids. But he also doesn't really fit in with the black kids either. Both black and white students joke with him about not "really" being black. One white student even says, "You're only technically black." The black kids don't say it outright like that, but they're certainly all implying it. Lionel struggles the most with his identity and finding his place as a gay black man. Even people who seem open to him are ultimately up to no good though. It's sad and heartbreaking, and he serves as something of a mirror on "black culture." At one point, Lionel and Troy bond over Troy's secret love of Star Trek (which he publicly denies, presumably because that's "not what black people are into.") That's what makes the feature compelling. It's not just about black students finding a place in a white world. Each of them is struggling to find their place in their black one as well.

The movie itself sometimes struggles to find itself as well. The first act builds it up to be a quirky indie comedy, complete with hyper stylistic title cards and transitions. Come the second act, however, it's trying more to force the issue. From start to finish, it's focus is primarily on microaggressions against black people. These are seemingly little things that contribute to making black people feel uncomfortable. It's things like saying, "You're only technically black." It's things like asking to touch someone's afro hair style, and doing so before he or she can even answer. And it's the way black people are portrayed on film and in television. Yet there's also a more serious perspective as well. Simien does give examples of more blatant issues as well, whether it's the issue of the Dean and the President, or if it's Kurt Fletcher's intangible disdain for Troy and making him jump more hoops than other people to get into the club.

It culminates in a Halloween-themed party thrown by a house of primarily white students in which the theme is dressing up and acting like black people. What ensues is a party of epic ignorance, as people show up in blackface, wear fake afros, cover themselves in gold chains and bandanas and wife beaters, and have a freestyle contest. Suffice to say, it's pretty racist. It's so much so that it coaxes passive Lionel into action. This event would seem completely absurd (and it is) if not for the fact that it was inspired by real world events, as these very parties started popping up at several colleges around the country - including Dartmouth.

Note: This is NOT from the movie. This is from a real college party... Can't make this shit up.

The story surrounding the fictional party, however, leaves the viewer with a few philosophical questions to deal with. On the one hand, as much of an ignorant jerk Kurt was, he wasn't lying that he cancelled the party. He had no real intentions of throwing it. Even when the idea first popped up, he was the only one to have enough sense to ask, "Can we do this?" It's one of the few moments you realize that for all his ignorance and racial insensitivity, he's also not a complete idiot and jerk. It turns out that the party was provoked and invites got sent by the radical Sam. On some level then, it seems like this party wouldn't have happened if Sam didn't throw everything in motion to begin with. Her argument, and rightfully so, is that it never should have happened whether invites were sent or not. She argues that when people got those invites, they should have been disgusted. Instead, many people covered themselves in blackface and fake afros and headed over anyway.

Overall, the film struggles at times with what tone it wants to take and with its pacing. The Sam/Gabe love story could have had more screen time and relevance throughout the film (Gabe, by the way, looks a bit like a cross between Jim Halpert and Andy Dwyer). It's also refreshing to just get different black perspectives out there at all. As Sam points out before taking the stage for her campaign speech, "We live in a world where Big Mama 3 exists."

Movies Worth Checking Out #1

Movies aren't necessarily my go-to medium of story-telling. I'm more of a video game guy. But I still watch a lot of movies. I go through a lot of films in a relatively short period of time, so I don't always have a lot of time to really follow up with a write up. Every once in a while, I'll try and post a list of five or so films that I've seen recently that I loved and felt were interesting enough to check out. Not to steal a page from the Extra Credits YouTube folks, but I can't necessarily promise these films are good; only that I found them interesting in some way. Most likely, these will be films that I either am biased to love or am unsure how to feel about them.

1. Last Night (1998)

How would you want to spend your last moments if you knew with absolute certainty that the world was going to end at midnight? Last Night shows us how a select few characters would choose to do so, while showing us the chaos that might ensue in the moments leading up to it.

Directed by Don McKeller and starring Sandra Oh, David Cronenberg, Don McKeller.

What I Loved: The ending. Without spoiling, it's exactly how I want more movies to end. (I had to stop writing my take on Miracle Mile because this fixed my major gripe with that movie.) 

*On Amazon Instant. 

2. I Know That Voice (2013)

Voice acting might be one of the most under appreciated jobs in the entertainment business. The school of thought from a lot of people is that if you can act on film, you can voice act. But as an anime/cartoon/video game fan, you can trust me that that most certainly isn't the case. Voice actors like Troy Baker, Steve Blum, and Jennifer Hale are sometimes one of the biggest reasons we grow attached to these animated characters. This documentary follows several of the big names, including John DiMaggio, who is almost literally everywhere. (Bender from Futurama is the big one.) 

Directed by Lawrence Shapiro and starring John DiMaggio, Kevin Conroy, James Arnold Taylor, Tara Strong, Billy West, Seth Green

What I Loved: The insight into an industry that I'm aware of that many others aren't. Always nice to see these people get some attention.

*On Netflix Instant.

3.  Mood Indigo (2013) 

A visually creative and stunning film from the mind of Michel Gondry, the film follows young Colin as he decides to shed his loneliness and becomes infatuated with Chloe. But what starts as a happily-ever-after type affair ends up suffering from a series of terrible occurrences. Colin must use all of his money to try and cure Chloe of a flower growing in her lungs.

Directed by Michel Gondry (Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind and starring Roman Duris, Omar Sy, Audrey Tautou.

What I Loved: I loved the entire final act, which was not at all where I was expecting it to go based on the trailer.

* in select theaters





4. Sleepwalk With Me (2012)

Comedian Mike Birbiglia turned his real life experiences with a doomed relationship and REM Behavior Disorder into a stand up routine, turned it into a better one-man show, then turned it into a book, and finally - with help from the folks of This American Life - adapted it into a film. Birbiglia (who also directs) actually shows a bit of nuance in the way he directs, using himself narrating the events in the same way as he presents his one-man show while showing humorous dream sequences. The film feels just as personal as his original stories that pushed him into public view when he was on several episodes of This American Life.

Directed by Mike Birbiglia and starring Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn, and Carol Kane.

What I Loved: I mean, it's a great humorous and heartbreaking story. Admittedly, it loses a little of its comedic power if you're familiar with the story, but it's a surprisingly well crafted and unique film adaptation.

* on Netflix Instant





5.  Last Days in Vietnam (2014)

I admit to having a taste for documentaries, hence this being the second on the list. The Vietnam War was a dark spot on America's history, but every side in the debate had a knack for removing human lives from the equation, especially Vietnamese lives. Last Days of Vietnam focuses exclusively on the final month or so of the American existence in Saigon, up to the very last helicopter. In particular, it shows how desperate people were to get out of South Vietnam as the communists encroached on the nation, confidently marching toward Saigon. It's a film that simultaneously makes you feel completely ashamed of the United States for going in, messing things up more, then completely abandoning the people and leaving them behind to get slaughtered, while also making you feel extremely proud of our actual troops who were there. The documentary tells a number of stories about US soldiers, seamen, and airmen who disobeyed orders and ran black op missions to help endangered Vietnamese citizens and their families escape the country.

Directed by Rory Kennedy

What I Loved: Vietnam is filled with ugliness, and this story is no exception, but it was somewhat helpful to hear stories about people who stepped up and shined when it got extraordinarily dark and bleak. Vietnam is one of the most complex and misunderstood wars in American history, so it was nice to see examples of the worst of our politicians with the best of our troops.

*in theaters

Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014)

Not going to lie, I'm not quite sure what to make of Hector and the Search for Happiness. Part of me wants to say that it is straight up asking the question, "Can Simon Pegg's presence alone carry a film?" But then, part of me feels like it was a cornier, less compelling take on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  Thing is, the film also has Rosamund Pike carry a few scenes as well, so it's not like it's a bad cast or poorly acted. It's just... I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

Seemingly taking a page from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, this is the story of a bland man going nowhere and just going through the motions. One day, he randomly gets the idea in his head that he needs to take a trip and go on an adventure. Not so much to "find himself" as much as it is to "study what makes people happy," so he can better help his patients. Of course, there are as many ideas about what is happiness as there are individuals, and Hector (Pegg) tries in vain to find that one quick, simple answer. 

Splice between his nerdy drawings and lame attempts to sum up happiness in one neat, fortune cookie sentiment, we get strange montages. Some of them kind of make sense, set to stylish music to indicate the fun time Hector is having. Other times, we get strange dream sequences giving us a glimpse into what might actually frighten him or showing things he had lost or left behind. Sometimes, we even flash back to things we just watched half an hour ago, seeing how that now fits in. At times, it feels pretentious, convoluted, and unnecessary. At others, it feels quasi-significant. There are also some strange animations that occur, perhaps to break up the monotony of the map-trekking plot. 

Subtlety is not the film's strong suit either. The emotions Pike and Pegg show seem real enough (they are great actors, after all), but the film really tries to drive the message home that happiness is in the pursuit. It's that old cliche of fearing death means you never truly live. They so much as introduce a character at the very end to specifically state that outright. Christopher Plummer's appearance at the end is nice, but only really serves to hammer the point even further. Even Toni Collette's appearance as Hector's old flame and representative of a life not lived feels a bit forced. 

At times, both artsy and safe, I guess I'm just not ultimately sure how I felt. The acting is great - Pegg and Pike (who were equally excellent in the last of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy The World's End) could be in everything together and I wouldn't mind - but I'm not terribly sure the direction is all that great. Pegg's excellence shines through, especially in the comedic moments. Of course, I'm one of those rare people who loved The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which is also flawed, but I think does a better job with having their titular character find what he's looking for more organically.